This invention relates to game playing methods for gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods of allowing game players to play multiple games in parallel on a video gaming machine.
There are a wide variety of devices that can comprise a gaming machine such as a slot machine or video poker machine. Some examples of these devices are lights, slot reels, ticket printers, card readers, speakers, bill validators, coin acceptors, display panels, key pads, bonus wheels, and button pads. These devices provide many of the features which allow a gaming machine to present a game. Some of these devices are built into the gaming machine. Often, a number of devices are grouped together in a separate box that is placed on top of the gaming machine. Devices of this type are commonly called a top box.
Typically, utilizing a master gaming controller, the gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to a play a game on the gaming machine and also encourage game play on the gaming machine. For example, a game played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate a game play. These steps require the gaming machine to operate input devices including bill validators and coin acceptors to accept money into the gaming machine and recognize user inputs from devices including key pads and button pads to determine the wager amount and initiate game play.
After a game has been initiated on the gaming machine, the gaming machine determines a game outcome and presents the outcome of the game to a player. For example, for a slot game, after a player has initiated a game by pressing an input button or pulling a handle attached to the gaming machine, the gaming machine determines a game outcome which is the final position of each reel on the slot machine. Then, the outcome of the slot game is presented to the player. For some slot games, the game outcome presentation is initiated before the game outcome is determined. For example, the final position of the reels may be determined after the reels have begun to spin. The game outcome presentation might include a number reels spinning, visual effects including flashing or strobing lights and auditory effects including bells and whistles. The game outcome presentation, including the various visual and auditory effects, is designed to add excitement to the game being played on the gaming machine and encourage additional game play.
Typically, the game outcome determined by the gaming machine is presented toward the end of the game outcome presentation. For example, for the slot game, the game outcome determined by the slot machine is the final position of each of the reels. Based on the game outcome, the gaming machine may notify the player of an award of a varying amount or notify the player that the wager made on the game was lost. For example, for a slot game with three slot reels, when the final position of each reel corresponds to the display of an identical symbol including three cherries, three bars or the like, a player might be awarded a credit of 5 times the initial wager made on the game. However, other symbol combinations including 2 cherries and a bar or two bars and a cherry might result in a loss of the wager made on the game. After the game outcome has been presented, a player may initiate a new game by making a new wager on the gaming machine and initiating the next game play.
Traditionally, game play on a gaming machine such as a slot machine or a video poker machine is presented sequentially. For example, for a slot game after a player has deposited money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, a player makes a wager and initiates a game play. Then, the gaming machine determines a game outcome and presents the game outcome. A player is not able to make a new wager and initiate another game on the gaming machine until the presentation of the outcome of the previous game is complete.
On some a gaming machines, a game player is able to make multiple bets on a single game outcome presentation. For example, some slot games allow a player to make wagers on multiple paylines. For a slot game with three reels, a payline is a line that relates combinations of symbols displayed on each reel. In this example, the game play and presentation are still sequential. A player makes one or more bets and initiates the game play. Then, the gaming machine determines and presents the game outcome while accounting for the possible multiple awards afforded by the multiple paylines. However, a player is not able to make one or more new wagers and initiate another game on the gaming machine until the presentation of the outcome of the previous game is complete.
In another example, some conventional slot machines have been made with three sets of three slot reels for a total of nine reels. In these games, a player may make one or more wagers on paylines that relate combinations of three symbols displayed on three different reels. For example, when the reels are arranged in three rows of three reels each, a player might make wagers on three paylines that span each row of the three slot reels. After making the wagers, a player initiates a game play. Then, the gaming machine calculates a game outcome which is the position of each of the nine reels and presents the game outcome while accounting for the possible multiple awards afforded by the multiple paylines. For this gaming machine, the game play is still sequential because a player is not able to make one or more new wagers and initiate another game on the gaming machine until the presentation of the outcome of the previous game is complete. Other sequential games that may provide wagering and game play in this manner include a 4 card keno game and a bingo game.
In another example, some conventional slot machines have been made with a bonus game capability. In these slot games, some game outcomes activate a bonus game feature. For example, a bonus game feature might comprise a tabular grid marked with various prizes. When the bonus game feature is activated, one of the grid locations may be randomly selected by the gaming machine as a bonus game outcome and the player may win an additional award corresponding to the prize displayed at the grid location. For gaming machine with bonus game features, the game play is still sequential because a player is not able to make another wager or initiate another game on the gaming machine until both the presentation of the game outcome and the presentation of the bonus game are complete.
A disadvantage of the current method for offering prizes and pay-outs on a gaming machine is that the sequential game play limits the gaming throughput. On a gaming machine, the gaming throughput is the maximum number of games that can be played on the gaming machine in a fixed period of time. The length of a game may be defined as the sequence of a player making a bet and initiating a game play and the gaming machine determining and presenting a game outcome. For example, on a slot machine, this game sequence usually requires about 3-5 seconds. Thus, in this example, the gaming throughput for this machine is about 0.2 to 0.3 games/second.
The profitability of a gaming machine is usually related to the product of the gaming throughput and the average wager per game. Typically, casino operators prefer gaming machines with a high profitability because the house share or drop is a percentage of the wagers made on the gaming machine. As described above for a slot machine, the average wager per game may be increased by offering multiple wagering opportunities such as multiple paylines. This game playing methodology may increase the average wager per game. However, it may also decrease the gaming throughput because of the time needed to make multiple wagers.
Typically, for most games played on a gaming machine, the majority of time in a game sequence is consumed by the game outcome presentation. For example, for a slot game, the game outcome presentation involves the slot reels spinning and stopping at a final position. Typically, the length of the game outcome presentation is made as short as possible to increase the game throughput. However, when the game outcome presentation becomes too short a player may lose interest in the game. Thus, for sequential game play on a gaming machine, the gaming throughput is usually limited by the presentation of the game outcome. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a game playing methodology for a gaming machine which overcomes the limitations of sequential game outcome presentations and increases the gaming throughput of a gaming machine.